And Michael Schumacher claimed the final point after a long recovery drive after he hit the spinning Ferrari of Alonso on lap one. He spent much of the race trying to find a way around Jaime Alguersuari’s Toro Rosso, and claimed tenth place with a late pass on Pedro de la Rosa in the dying stages of the race.

232 comments on Button wins thrilling Australian GP

A disgraceful strategy from Mclaren for Hamilton. Button did not deserve this win. Hamilton would have had him if wasn’t made to stop from 3rd place. Hamilton drove a fantastic race and passed more than anyone including Button. Hamilton robbed of a victory AGAIN. SHAMEFUL

Hamilton would have had him if wasn’t made to stop from 3rd place. Hamilton drove a fantastic race and passed more than anyone including Button. Hamilton robbed of a victory AGAIN. SHAMEFUL

Actually, Hamilton wouldn’t have gotten close. His speed when he caught up with the Ferraris was the result of his having fresh tyres, which he wouldn’t have had since he wouldn’t have pitted. He might have gotten past Kubica for second, but Jenson just kept dialling out his lead – he’s incredibly gentle on his tyres, while Hamilton takes a much more aggressive approach. If Hamilton hadn’t pitted, got himself into second and tried to push, he probably wouldn’t have had any rubber left by the end of the race.

Robbed? Oooh, that´s too much to say. Hamilton doesn´t care the tyres as Button does, imagine….Hamilton burns the tyres even when he is not at the circuit and then is stopped by the police. :) Sorry Hamilton fans.

Hamilton had to fight all the way in the slipstream of cars ahead, with a damaged front wing, who did Button have to pass to get his win?!

Hamilton had the pace to take Kubica for 2nd and was lining him up for a pass when he was bizzarley called into the pit. Whitmarsh knew Lewis would have reeled Jenson in and most certainly passed him as he did earlier in the race.

Hamilton chances were sabotaged by his own team! because golden boy Button appeals better to sponsors and certain powerful people in F1

Unlike Button, Ham actually passed Button on track. Button was just lucky that his gamble paid off and later inherited first place when Vettel dropped out.
Mclaren’s poor strategy costed Hamilton at least a certain second place and i read from some websites he is very angry with the team and threatened he will find out who is responsible for his strategy.

Come on guys. I’m not a Button fan, but he had the guts to be the first to wear the option tyres even if no one was sure about the weather. He deserved his victory even though he was not the fastest guy on the track.

This is the best thing I’ve read in ages! Hamilton’s drive was great, his strategy poor and being taken out by Webber twice in one race a disgrace for Webber. But by any stretch of the imagination for anyone to think that McLaren deliberately scuppered Hamilton’s race I would have thought beyond the stretch of even a deranged mind. This suggestion even goes beyond what the paranoid Alonso suggested was going on when he was Hamilton’s team-mate!

I absolutely agree. If Button had gone off the track even worse than his first corner slip, or put his McLaren into the wall because of his tyre change gamble, then this post would have been full of comments criticising his stupidity at changing tyres so early.

The Button fans would then have been outraged at the ‘strategy-call’ that disadvantaged him – i.e. McLaren making him change his tyres so early, totest the track conditions, before changing Hamilton’s tyres.

I don’t think McLaren would handicap Hamilton. I acknowledge that if Hamilton (and Webber) didn’t pit, they would have been in front of the 2 Ferrari’s. In other words yeah, Hamilton strategy’s sucked, but I think it was just a (big) mistake from the team, not some kind of conspiracy against him.

My point is that I don’t understand why would McLaren try to avoid a one-two finish (considering that Button was in any case far ahead Kubica). As James_mc wrote just under my comment, I also believe that McLaren thought that Alonso, Massa and Kubica would stop to change their “old tyres”. So in a way, yeah i think it was a “mistake”.
In any way, we all know what Hamilton is capable of and the MP4-25 is a very good car. So cheer up mate, I’m sure Hamilton will win other races ;)

what you say might have been true if Hamilton was behind the Ferraris and not fighting with Kubica for 2nd position.

Why would they bring Hamilton in when he was faster than all the people around him, fighting for position and when they didn’t know what strategy his competitors had anyway? it doesn’t make any sense, it doesn’t even qualify to called stupid!

It was clear that Lewis had the measure of Kubica and Button and would have won this race if Whitmarsh hadn’t stepped in for the rescue…

“Hamilton has every right to be angry with Mclaren and specifically Whitmarsh. They deliberately handicapped him in order to give Button the win.”
You have got to be joking. Mclaren aren’t going to cost themselves points

Whitmarsh made a decision to give Button the win, because he knew he would not be able to hold on against Lewis.

This was not about points, but image. Whitmarsh is thinking long term about team sponsorship, advertising and shareholders. Button presents a more palatable image to the F1 ‘fans’ and sponsors because of demographics and what he is. Hamilton’s image was tarnished last year, through no fault of his own, by Mclaren’s bad decision making at this very race track and has had a torrid time in the gutter British press..

Whitmarsh is sacrificing Hamilton to curry favour and please the powers that be, who are essentially prejudiced and with whom Lewis’ success has never sat well. The blue eyed Button however presents a more appealing image to the vast majority of F1 people, hence this clumsy shuffle to give the win to Button…

Mclaren are there to win and race not to make good posters. I’m sorry cabbages butb that does Mclaren, Button and Lewis a disservice in my opinion. Mclaren want to win and have always let their drivers race, Button wants to win as does Lewis and Lewis can’t win them all.

The Mclaren you’re describing is that under Ron Dennis in a completely different environment to what we have now. This is no longer the case.
With Dennis and TAG’s Mansour Ojeh and complete backing of Mercedes, Mclaren had far more financial autonomy and gave their drivers equal chances and didn’t have to cuddle up to Bernie, shareholders as Whitmarsh has to now. He has to play the field in very tough financial environment and Button image gives him a more appealing sales leverage than Hamilton does. Its sad, but thats the reality today..

Hamilton’s image, through endemic prejudice, negative hyoe and unjustified press hostility, has taken such a battering over and over again over the past two years so much so that it Whitmarsh is having to handicap his best drivers in order to give the ‘fans’, sponsors and shareholders what they want to see, a Vettel, an Aonso or a Rosberg, essentially a clean cut white male that the majority can identify with…

F1 has given Lewis such a hard time and negative experience so that he is completely backed up against the wall and almost isolated in the sport and now within his own team. It is sad to see such a great young man, devoted to his family and sport and who has brought so much positive energy into F1, being broken down this way in order to pander to ignorance and prejudice..

Keith that is your opinion and I respect it although I dont agree with it.

I know I’m not making many friends here, but I love this sport and what it represents and strongly believe that what is going on is taking away credibility from F1 and in the long term damaging it.

This is not “happening” or a show as Bernie would like us to believe. It is a passionate technically driven sport. And we as fans have obligation to voice our concerns when we see politics and finance getting the upper hand on the race track.

Having said that I would like to thank you for being even handed and fair by allowing an open forum for people to voice their opinions, and that is all I’m saying here; my opinion and of course I could be wrong, in fact truly wish I’m!

@ “Of course Button would have better tyers, he didn’t have to pass anyone in anger, Hamilton fought all the way, with a damaged front wing!”

If Hamilton had been “at the races” nad nailed it in quali instead of still feeling the after effects of Jet Lag because he didn’t turn up in Melbourne until Thursday after being in LA with guess who – he wouldn’t have been in that situation where he had to fight his way up would he ?

@cabbagesVScarrots, I am a big Hamilton fan and a Big Button fan, so I am not going to be biased to either of the drivers.

Do you think that McLaren really would pit Hamilton just to make sure he didn’t catch Button and possibly overtake him? I’ve seen repeatedly that McLaren want the constructors championship, do you really think they would cost them selves 10 points?

Secondly, did you watch Hamilton’s car come into the pit lane? You could clearly see wear on his rear tyres, maybe not a lot but could u imagine what they would be like after say another 10-15 laps?

Personally I think it was a great race, and from this I hope that Button has started to prove his critics wrong! Great call from him and a great race from him!

Button made a brave call, a calculated risk and it paid off. As for Hamilton ruining his tyres, I think that they were surviving just fine, but the team took him in under the expectation that the trio of Kubica, Massa and Alonso would either come in or their tyres would begin to go off majorly.

I think your conclusion has major flaws. It looks biased but I am not in a position to tell you what your motives are. Here are some comments on what you have posted in this thread:

1. McLaren car good. Hamilton did not qualify into Q3.

2. The front wing damage, if existant (I tried to see the damage but could not find any missing pieces) was inflicted by Hamilton doing a bad overtaking move (which could have punctured the rear right tire of the other car). Damage must have been minimal judging by lap times.

3. Alonso qualified well, and while being slightly slow off the line was first taken out at the race start to find himself last at P22, and from there managed to drive himself back through the whole field to P4. That’s a lot of overtaking and some great driving considering the conditions (most of it done when it was raining) with only a single tyre change (I believe?). I did not count how many cars passed, but must be comparable to Hamilton if not more.

4. On several occassions, I saw Hamilton make mistakes and falling behind whatever car he was trailing. I think they were failed overtaking attempts. I also recall seeing some instances where he overtook them in such a bad way that he himself lost the position by the next turn or two.

5. I saw Button perform only one mistake, braking too late on the first lap of the soft tyres in the wet.

6. Renault worse engine and car than McLaren, Red Bull & Ferrari. Kubica drove without a single mistake through the whole race. Despite making his soft tyres last almost the entire race despite being heavily involved in fights for position, managed to keep the speed up despite all, and most impressively, put up excellent defense against the overtaking moves of faster cars behind. I was certain he was to be overtaken at any moment, but he kept fighting and held it together.

7. The tactic to change Hamilton’s tyres was probably based on: fast car, driver good at overtaking, tyres worn out from the aggressive driving with continous failed and successful overtakes, especially behind the impressive Kubica, and seeming clear that there would be no more position gains unless something was done about it. Unknown strategy of others also a factor. It is easy to have hindsight after seeing the outcome, but that is not known beforehand.

8. The conspiracy and the motives for it: There probably is some racism. Probably not at McLaren. Probably not at the sponsors. If at the sponsors, their desires to discriminate weighs far less than the gains (for McLaren in the manufacturers championship, and for the sponsors) of race performances. Formula One Management pays ********* of money to the teams according to manufacturers championship results. Sponsorship value is mostly rated by exposure in the media, and that is gained by winning or podiums. I don’t know what kind of sponsorship you think that Button would bring to the team that Hamilton cannot. When Button was dominating the chapionship in 2009, it did not seem to bring much sponsorship to the team, Brawn GP. McLaren, with mixed ethnicity Hamilton in the lead, had by far better sponsorship.

Wow. What a race. I was pleased to see Button take the victory, but was disappointed with Hami’s demeanor re: the tire change strategy radio announcement. Vettel is a true champion, and it’s tragic that he’s been denied two first places finishes due to the RB’s lack of reliability. The world championship is wide open at this point and that’s a very good thing for F1. Time for some sleep.

I must admit a laughed my ass off when Button went on slicks first, but it occurred to be a genius maneuver. Although it’s Kubica who deserved the “star of the race” simply EPIC defensive drive against raging Hamilton (in my opinion the second star of the race). Also Kudos to Alonso for rock-solid defense against Hamilton and Webber. All in all fantastic race, thank God we had rain.

“He didn’t even attempt to get close to Button but just held station in 2nd while people behind him where fighting for positions”

You say it as if Kubica had the exact car as Button and Hamilton. Just remember that Kubica is in a Renault, clearly a more inferior car to the McLaren (and the Ferrari for that matter). You can’t say he wasn’t trying.

Cabbages massive respect for you to come back on and admit you were a bit fired up after the race.
I can understand how disapointed you must have been, but good on you for coming back with less fire in your belly!

Button deserved that win, what a cool call with his tyres a champs decision that gave him the edge.. and the way he kept his slicks in mint condition skill and a cool head… Hams and Webber lost their heads. Though it was wrong to bring Ham’s in he could’ve said no and called it like Hamilton did, he gave away control of his own race to the pit crew should really be the other way around.
Shumi will not be happy but i think he’ll have a strong second half of the season. But Nico has good points advantage over him, can’t see him giving that up without a fight.

This race was amazing. Passing! There was PASSING! :P Easily a thousand times better than Bahrain.

Great stuff from Jenson, he really had the race under control in the dying stages. Shame though about Red Bull – Vettel’s car doesn’t seem to like him very much and Webber didn’t seem too happy at all in his interview after the race (given that it’s his home race, who would be?). I actually screamed when he and Hamilton collided, and my Mum told me to be quiet…
Still, very disappointed with what happened to Vettel and Webber. I hope Mark stays true to his word and RBR will bounce back.

Grats as well to Kubica – to get that Renault into 2nd must have been no mean feat. Massa’s looking good as well, he’s recovering beautifully from Hungary last year.

If this is the kind of racing we’ll see at most of the races this season, I say brng it on.

A good call and drive from Button. Hamilton got too excited and showed he can make mistakes others don’t. Only driver to be more excited was Webber.
Looking forward to the handbag throwing between Mclaren fans.

cabbagesVScarrots you should calm down. Hamilton did not have the courage or experience to make a call for tyres. He lost it behind Alonso and was very lucky only to lose one place. Remember Alonso was last at the end of lap 1 and still got valuable points. You may not remember watching races pre pit stops for tryes but the management of the sticky black bands is a very important part of racing. One up to Button.

The way I see it, it seems like after he made the radio call about the 2nd pit stop being a “terrible idea”, he figured his chances of overtaking Alonso were getting slim to nil, so Hamilton went for it. He realized the maneuver was probably botched and backed off, but by that time Webber had already pounced…

Mclaren did an injustice to Hamilton, asking him to pit for a tyre change. He was harrasing Kubica all the time and did not lose his pace. He asked on the radio why the team force him to change tyres. After the tyre change, he did catch up with Alonso, Massa but fail to pass them. He made a brave attempt to pass in the final stages but unfortunately got hit my Webber. Kubica did not change tyre even he had tyre degradation and so kept his position. Mclaren did a lousy team job!

Mouse: Hamilton closed a gap of over half a minute in less than 6 laps to get behind the Ferraris after his ridiculous pitstop, while keeping crazy webber behind him. He would have passed Kubica in a blink…

Hamilton would have had 30 laps to pass Kubica for second, rather than the 5 he had to pass the 2 Ferrari’s to get him back to second. Who knows what would have happened had Hamilton not pitted. I’m pretty sure 2nd for Hamilton (assuming he made the pass) would have been considered a good result by both him and the team and there may have been the sense to settle for second considering the battering his tires would have faced making those classic passes. People seem to think Hamilton can’t look after his tyres. The fact is, until this year he’s never had to. He seemed to do a pretty good job in Barain!

Schumi’s race was shocking, both tactics and driving ability. Although he was unlucky with the first lap shunt, he ran behind Alonso after the safety car and look at the difference by the end of the race. 1 point is equivalent to about 0.3 points under the old points system – those crumbs are meant for the midfielders, not frontrunning teams.

This is the problem with Formula One, unfortunately. This was a great race solely because of the weather. In this race, the limiting factor for overtaking was driver skill instead of aerodynamic inefficacy. But this is just an aberration. Drivers make great races, not cars.

I think the drive of the day is split between Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. I think the WDC will be either one of these two or Vettel. Button did well with his “silky smooth driving” (I owe Jonathan Legard about £5000 in royalties for using his signature quote). I’m still trying to figure out how someone who managed to have a first corner shunt, get overtaken by his team mate and have an off on an out lap managed to win the race, but it doesn’t have to make sense, it’s F1 baby!

Do you not get fined or penalised for causing an accident anymore? Button on Alonso and Schumi was a racing incident but Webber on Hammy was flagrant dangerous driving.

The most pertinent point to draw from this grand prix is a negative one. Cars that are 2-2.5 seconds faster in clean air on newer tyres (Webber & Hammy > Ferrari’s & Kubi) can not overtake in normal conditions. This does not augur well for on track action in the future races.

“The most pertinent point to draw from this grand prix is a negative one. Cars that are 2-2.5 seconds faster in clean air on newer tyres (Webber & Hammy > Ferrari’s & Kubi) can not overtake in normal conditions. This does not augur well for on track action in the future races.”

Well said.Setting aside the the overtaking and other incidents,all due to the weather, that is exactly the same conclusion I came to.

“The most pertinent point to draw from this grand prix is a negative one. Cars that are 2-2.5 seconds faster in clean air on newer tyres (Webber & Hammy > Ferrari’s & Kubi) can not overtake in normal conditions. This does not augur well for on track action in the future races.”

Thats not so easy. NEWER TYRES – yes, but worn during the chase after ferraris.
Hamilton reported big problems with tyres after getting ferraris.

Many congrats to Jenson on a good strategy call and a lovely controlled run to the line.

Otherwise, McLaren should be ashamed of the strategy call with LH and heads should roll for it. Track position is everything and once LH was brought in the Renault and the Ferraris were always going to stay out.

If I were Jenson Id keep making my own calls because if there’s a call to be made you can almost guarantee McLaren will get it wrong.

Yet this one wasnt difficult. If LH had kept his tyres and he’d had worse wear than Massa or Webber he would have still have been very likely to finish 3rd or 4th

It’s not good to rant on the radio about it but I can understand it and it’s a recurring theme with McLaren

I think that McLaren are getting to much stick for their decision. Yes it was a bad one when it all played out, but bearing in mind that the great Schumi/Brawn combo made the same decision we can’t say it was the obvious decision. I suspected Kubica/Alonso/Massa might make the same decision, and it was only a couple of laps later that I realised that it wasn’t going to pay off.

I agree! the decision to leave him out in China 2008, despite Hamilton voicing his concerns effectively cost him the Championship in his rookie year! Remember he’s still one of the youngest drivers on the grid and he believe’s the team have the best intentions. He’s not got the years of experience that the older drivers have but I’ve no doubt he’ll develop that instinct with time. Button used a version of it today but I’m sure that was partly desperation rather than judgement. Fair play to him for making it stick though!

What an amazing race. What really got me towards the end was Hamilton over the radio though, implying he’d been given an biased/unfair strategy when in actual fact Button had made his own. Absolutely thrilled to see Button obolish all the claims made against him before the season, and to see a Renault on the podium. Roll on Malaysia.

Well first of all what a race from Jenson, justifies the move from Mercedes, and shows where his strengths in comparison to Lewis are. Obviously McLaren messed it in strategy, but even as a fan I don’t think he would have ever been able to pass Jenson.

Also, this McLaren does seem to have race pace, they still need downforce an more active suspension, but they’ll definatley be a threat for the championship.

Now to Lewis, he isn’t half the overtaker Jenson is, he’s to agressive. He had the speed to pass Alonso but was just to desperate, he’s got to learn calm intelligent passing, this is the biggest chink in his armour. It’s always controll with Lewis, I stand by the assertion that he’s the fastest guy on raw pace but Alonso an Button might not be able to out timetrial him but they do seem to be more complete racers, still Hamilton was running a comprimised car.

My my, poor Vettle, he’s the new Raikkonen. Riding a cardboard rocketship, poor guy has to win eventually. Eventually he’ll start loosing that P1, still making a fast car reliable an all that.

I suppose Lewis was already feeling fired up after not making it into Q3 yesterday, and now they had him give up 3rd place to pit for new tyres and then tell him the 3 guys in front of him ar not going to stop.
He must have been really angry and lost his cool.
But yes, in different circumstances, that is what makes him so good, it is a character thing.
Webber must have felt something alike, after loosing enormously with the late change for slicks and the badly judged extra stop.

You know, if Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton had each experienced the other’s race, you’d all be calling Button foolhardy and Hamilton masterful. But no, here it’s a case of Hamilton getting screwed out of a victory and Button simply being in the right place at the right time.

What are you going to say in the event that Button beats Hamilton in the end-of-year standings?

Looking at the slo-mo, Lewis has a great chance at the next corner on the switch back.

But we’ll never know! Whitmarsh is on the BBC now defending the decision but I dont buy it. Maybe LH’s tyres would have suffered more than the other guys’ but, as we saw in Bahrain last week, it’s tough to pass anyone if your tyres are gone and everyone is driving conservatively.

McLaren just cannot think clearly enough when the pressure is on. The most costly example being China 2007

Fantastic race, the final laps with Hamilton trying to overtake Alonso……ummmmmm….cream……Hamilton should know that he can play with everybody but not with Alonso. Hamilton will get depressed this year. Button deserved the victory, it took the right the decision. Brave. As well, Massa knows who is who in Ferrari, and in Ferrari everybody knows. And you – reading this- too. Alonso champion¡¡¡

Just watching the Red Button on the Beeb. Whitmarsh has admitted that if Hamilton hadn’t stopped for the second time, McLaren could have had a one-two. He also said that at the moment, in normal conditions, one car needs to be 3 seconds a lap faster to be sure of overtaking. So, McLaren allowed Hamilton to be disadvantaged to the order of half-a-minute; take all the life out of his tyres catching up the lost time and try to overtake two Ferrari’s just to get back to where he was pre-stop. That is farcical.